04: CLOSED CURTAINS III

The nurses passed out trays of hospital food as they strolled around the ward. Norval and Cecily were grateful for the nurse's thoughtfulness. Jalon, on the other hand, was not one to be easily satisfied, although he appeared curiously happy and thankful that day.

"What the heck is going on? What's wrong with him?" Luciana inquired, swallowing a lump of potatoes as she turned to Norval, who traced her gaze and finally found Jalon's face, smiling uncomfortably as if he had never smiled before.

"I understand."  Norval replied, finishing the last of the roasted beans on his platter, "I guess it's because of the nurses or something, maybe he's trying to get their number."

As she began to scream at him, Luciana cleared her throat and cupped her palms over her mouth.

"Hey Jalon, by the way, your girlfriend called you last night, and I think she said something about her rash cream being missing? she told me to ask you about it as soon as I remembered!" she continued, her laughing suppressed.

As the nurse walked away with a plastic tumbler and some prescription capsules, Jalen's shoulders fell, and he turned to the two morons who were laughing their heads off.

As he set the tumbler in Lucianna's nightstand, he murmured mockingly, " Ha ha ha, very funny."

"You've been exceptionally sweet this morning; I'm curious as to what's gotten into you today?" Luciana inquired, clearly aware of his motives.

"Unlike the two of you, at least I'm hoping for something more than the championship out of these trials," Jalon said, tossing the capsules in his mouth and flushing them down with water.

"How does that relate to anything?" "Luciana inquired.

"Don't even say anything.  Do you realise how much fear boys have of you at school? " As he wiped a drop of water off his lips, Jalon murmured.

"That doesn't bother me in the least," Luciana said, cutting him off."Well you should be concerned. This type of beauty is wasted on a lady like you, and please don't take that as a compliment," Jalon added as he strolled back to his bed, picking up his tumbler.

"And you, my brother," he said, "if you don't pick up your game, I'm seeing you dating books for the rest of your life." The Water almost choked him as he began to laugh while drinking it at the same time.

"Here's some useful advice" Jalon said. "Listen carefully because I am saying this for free: the two of you can't be living alone for four years! You are going to get out of this school having learned nothing about dating. and I don't know what could more terryfing than that." Jalon mocked them, sipping his water once more.

"Right now, relationships are the furthest thing from my thoughts. Norval stated, "I have far more important things to worry about."

"Like what? like how slanting your letters are in your handwriting and how you can fix them?" Jalon ridiculed him, and Luciana couldn't help but laugh with him.

"I mean, he's not completely wrong.  I've watched you stay up all night attempting to correct your handwriting, and I've always wondered what's wrong with this guy. " Luciana added on, releasing a laughter at the end.

"You guys are a bunch of jerks. It's no surprise we don't have many friends,” Norval replied, eventually joining in the laughter with his own guffaw.

The three conversed for a while while as they took their medicine and relaxed.  Soon after, one of the match's judges finally appeared at the door and was let in by one of the nurses.

"How are you three doing today? I hope you are well," she asked as she entered the room, greeting them with a wide grin. The students returned the greeting with the same vigour.

"Norval, I was just back in the complex entrance with your mother.  She appeared to be in a rush and didn't have time to come and say goodbye to you, but she urged me to give her best wishes and hope you recover quickly."  The judge added, "Your sister also handed me this, and she said it would protect you during the Trials." She handed Norval a little plush animal she had taken from her purse.

"Thank you, miss," Norval said, his face flushed with embarrassment after his two buddies poked him in the stomach with the plush elephant.

" It's Mrs Imani. I work under the council of Unity. IAA also chose me to be one of the prestigious judges for this event and the trials in general,” the lady explained. Her afro bounced on her shoulders with every step as she went towards them. In one hand, she held the booklet, and in the other, she carried a pen. She then proceeded to greet each student individually before taking a seat next to norval's bed.

"I was sent here to assess your present condition; I hope you're feeling better than you were yesterday," she said as she opened the booklet.

"We definitely feel better than we did when we first arrived here," Luciana replied.

 "That's good to hear. I hope you'll be ready in the next couple of days. We're on a tight schedule and don't have a lot of time to work with, so I hope you understand," Mrs.Imani stated.

"Well, I'm also here to inform you of the first phase's results. The council of Unity talked to each other and they all agreed to make the first phase of the trials be at the tournament. They came to the conclusion that they wanted to make the first phase as difficult and challenging as possible, therefore they decided on a tournament as the best way to do it. In Their Eyes, the difficulty felt appropriate based on your performance. You must remember that they were not just seeking for wins or who could win it faster than the other, but they were also looking for strategic approaches to different types of foes. That is why they chose to bring in international students who employed a completely different fighting style and magic to push you out of your comfort zones. “Let us begin with you, Norval,” she said as she turned to face him at the end of her speech.

"Your opponent was pretty formidable. We said he'd be a fantastic match for you, and we were correct. He pushed you to your maximum, and even though you didn't win, you still proved yourself worthy in the eyes of the council of Unity."

Mrs Imani said, "I am pleased to inform you that you have progressed to the second phase."

Luciana gave him a soft shoulder punch, like she always did.

"Now it's your turn, Jalon Barr." In the battle, you had excellent control. The council was blown away by your performance. You forced your opponent to battle you on your terms and coerced them into fighting in your style, which is impressive. Your tactical approach was well received by the council, and they wanted to see more of it. You've also moved to the second round of the trials,” Mrs Imani added, frantically flipping through the book.

"I mean, was there any doubt?" Jalon asked, shrugging his shoulders and raising his palms, which Mrs. Imani tried to ignore.

"Last but certainly not least, miss Luciana." Despite the fact that you were unorthodox and irresponsible, the council was impressed by your performance. You exhibited a lot of heart, yet they are worried about you. You appeared to be rash. The tournament's goal, they explained, was not to offer you the victory, but to help you develop your fighting technique. One method to do this was to be aware of your surroundings. Keep in mind that in a genuine circumstance, you will be surrounded by onlookers and bystanders while fighting your adversaries. As a result, your excessive use of explosives demonstrated a high level of risk, as it may wind up hurting people, the same people you are sworn to protect. This is said to be your one defect, and you should endeavour to rectify it. Otherwise, you've progressed to the next stage of their examinations. I hope you all a speedy and safe recovery as you prepare for the next step. It'll start in a few days, so get ready and bring your A game,” she remarked as she closed the booklet and stood up.

"Thank you so much for the information, Mrs Imani; I'll make sure to look into it," Luciana responded, putting out her arm and shaking Mrs Imani's hand firmly.

Mrs Imani stated as she walked out of the ward, "I hope to see you all next week."

They became engrossed in their celebrations until Norval turned to them and asked, "Wait, we still don't know what the second phase of the trials will be?" "

"Well, I'm not concerned about it at the moment." Jalon stated, pulling out his phone and checking his social media account, "Today I rejoice with my fans."

"He's correct. At the very least, they'll have something to celebrate," Norval agreed.

Norval rose to his feet and reached for the remote, crept towards the television, and turned on the miniature sound system on a trolley below it. An electronic pop song began blasting inside the ward, and nurses passed by, puzzled, but none of them bothered to look. They had more serious issues to deal with, teenagers dancing their heads off was not part of them.

He said, "Show us some moves, princess." Luciana was hesitant at first, but when Jalon joined in, the two of them were able to coax her out of her bed.her a stiff body struggled to dance timidly to the music.  Norval was having fun, which shocked her because he was serious most of the time, if not all of the time. As a result, seeing him let fly on a beat surprised her. She anticipated it from Jalon, but Norval was the last person that came to her mind when she thought of dancing. So she asked herself, 'what was stopping her if Norval was having so much fun?'  She, too, joined in the dance, gradually increasing the intensity of her movements. Jalon took out his phone and started live streaming.

Pretty soon,  the three eventually dance as if they had no injuries at all. The trials had been taking a toll on them, and nice for them  to let loose once in a while. Their fans and supporters watched in delight  as their icons danced with their faces full of stitches, and their limbs wrapped with heavy bandaging.